THE MAYOR of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has urged Westminster’s political leaders to hold a Commons vote in order to “break the impasse” over coronavirus restrictions in the north of England.

The Labour mayor has been holding out against Downing Street plans to have the region moved into tier three of the Government’s Covid measures.

He says the support being offered by the Treasury falls far short of what’s needed.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer, SNP Westminster chief Ian Blackford, and the other party leaders in the Commons, Burnham warned that “most places” will need, at some point, to suffer strict restrictions before a vaccine is rolled out.

He called for a “full and fair furlough scheme” covering 80% of wages, or at least the national minimum wage, support for the self-employed and improved compensation for businesses.

He said the “clear national entitlements” similar to during the first lockdown are essential to create the “sense of fairness” to ensure compliance with new restrictions.

“We recognise the uncertainty that this is causing and write to ask for your help in breaking the impasse and finding a fair resolution,” Burnham said.

“This could be done by Parliament calling an urgent debate and vote this week to establish a cross-party consensus on what constitutes a fair financial framework for people in areas under tier three restrictions.”

Last week, Boris Johnson delivered an ultimatum to the Mayor, saying that if Burnham continued to refuse to take the region into tier three he would “intervene in order to protect Manchester’s hospitals and save the lives of Manchester’s residents.”

Earlier in the day, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove heightened tensions when he accused Burnham of having engaged in political “posturing” and called for him to accept the measures “to save people’s lives”.

Gove told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday he wanted to “reach an agreement with the political leadership” in Greater Manchester.

“I want them to put aside for a moment some of the political positioning that they’ve indulged in and I want them to work with us in order to ensure that we save lives and protect the NHS,” he added.

“Instead of press conferences and posturing, what we need is action to save people’s lives.”

However, there’s support for Burnham’s position from local Tory MPs. Senior backbencher Sir Graham Brady, who is the MP for Altrincham and Sale West in Greater Manchester, told BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House that the region’s Labour and Tory MPs were “pretty united” in opposing tier three.

Meanwhile, Johnson has been under increasing pressure to impose a short national lockdown known as a “circuit-breaker”, as recommended by the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies and Labour.

Asked if the Government would take the measure on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday, Gove replied: “No.”